His statement came during a joint press conference in Islamabad with Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, where they addressed recent border confrontations with India along the Line of Control and accused New Delhi of supporting terrorism inside Pakistan.

Relations between Pakistan and India have plummeted to their lowest level in years following the April 22 attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 men, mostly tourists, and was one of the deadliest armed attacks on civilians in the disputed Himalayan region since 2000. Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, said it “unequivocally” denied involvement in the attack, after an initial message that claimed responsibility.

Following the incident, New Delhi, without providing any evidence, implied Pakistan backed the attackers — an allegation that Islamabad has strongly denied. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for a neutral probe into the incident.

FM Dar said the entire region was facing a serious threat to peace and stability owing to the “politically motivated and highly provocative environment being created by India” in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.

“The world leaders have been requesting the exercise of restraint in recent days. I have made it very clear, on behalf of the government and the nation, that Pakistan will not be the first one to resort to any escalatory move. However, in case of any escalatory move by the Indian side, we will respond very strongly,” he said.

“Let me start by reiterating that Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. No cause or objective can justify taking the lives of innocent people. This is the national and Islamic policy: killing of a human being is tantamount to killing entire humanity as per the [Holy] Quran and saving a life is tantamount to saving entire humanity.”

The deputy prime minister said the targeting of innocent civilians was sorely condemnable and deplorable, adding that Pakistan had been raising its policy in this regard wherever it was happening in the world.

“We are concerned over the loss of life during the Pahalgam attack. We also extend our condolences. Being a victim of terrorism itself, no one can feel the pain of those impacted by this scourge like Pakistan,” Dar said.

On the other hand, he said: “India glorifies and even celebrates its assassination campaign and sponsoring of terrorism in Pakistan and other countries. No other country has sacrificed so much or suffered as much as Pakistan due to terrorism.”

Recounting the loss of over 80,000 lives and economic losses of over $150 billion, Dar said that in total, the overall loss incurred by Pakistan amounted to $500bn. He said Pakistan had been working closely with the international community to address the common threat.

He said the sacrifices made by Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies and civilians had helped to address the threat of terrorism and contributed towards regional and international peace and stability.

“Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism that has been planned, orchestrated and sponsored by India,” FM Dar said, adding that in such a backdrop, it was “preposterous to even suggest any kind of association of Pakistan with this [Pahalgam] incident”.

He said the furore and media hype created over “each and every incident in India seems to be deliberate and choreographed”, adding that it was “unfortunate that India continues to weaponise unsubstantiated accusations and allegations as part of its disinformation strategy for narrow political ends”.

Dar alleged it was not the first time that India had resorted to this practice. “They have done it before and resorted again to the same to what they did in the Pulwama incident,” Dar said, adding that it had become a “very familiar template aimed at diverting attention from India’s inability to suppress the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination, its security failures in [occupied Kashmir] as well as its decades-long state terrorism and oppression”.

The foreign minister said India deliberately raised tensions with Pakistan to distract the international community’s attention from the “horrors” of what was happening in occupied India.

“A durable solution for India lies in focusing on its internal problems instead of pointing fingers at other countries. India has been deploying allegations of terrorism to achieve its strategic objectives for a long time,” Dar said, adding that India had a history of using the excuse of terrorism to introduce “draconian laws” to suppress Kashmiris in the occupied territory and to defy UN Security Council resolutions on the issue.

“India needs to explain why such incidents usually coincide with high-profile visits … The root cause of instability and conflict in South Asia is the unresolved and long-festering Jammu and Kashmir dispute. India’s illegal occupation … in stark violation of UNSC resolutions and grave violations of human rights, must remain a matter of grave concern for the international community.

“At the same time, all such incidents are used to whip up domestic political sentiment for narrow political gains. We remain extremely concerned at the very vitriolic, highly inflammatory and blatantly Islamophobic narrative being directed against Kashmiris and Indian Muslims.

He said the Indian media and political leaders were directing a similar discourse against Pakistan, which he criticised as a “highly irresponsible ploy for narrow objective gains” that was pushing the entire region towards “extreme instability”.

“India made allegations against Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack without an iota of evidence and with such dramatic speed. Pakistan has nothing to do with it and we have said so right from the beginning, and I repeat: Pakistan has nothing to do with the Pahalgam incident, period.

“We demand an independent and transparent probe by neutral investigators, as announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Any TORs (terms of reference) in this regard should be credible and mutually agreed upon.

“Pakistan has neither any connection … nor is the potential beneficiary. At a time when the economy is stabilising and we are making significant progress against terrorism, we need to question why this situation is being created by India all of a sudden and what is the motivation behind it.”

He said the recent actions and announcements by India after a meeting of its cabinet security committee were “illegal and highly irresponsible”.

“Holding in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty is unilateral and illegal. There are no such provisions in the treaty, it cannot be amended or terminated without consensus and in case of disagreements or issues, there are forums provided in the treaty which should be invoked,” he added.

Dar said the above actions showed India’s “blatant disregard” for the sanctity of international treaties and set a dangerous precedent. “It strikes at a fundamental ill of regional cooperation with profound implications for regional and global stability,” the foreign minister explained.

“Pakistan is an agrarian economy, millions of people are dependent on the waters being regulated by this treaty. We gave up three rivers in this treaty and I can hardly find a water distribution treaty in the world whereby, a part of dealing with the distribution of water, the rivers could have also been given up.”

Dar said the National Security Committee had made it “very clear” that any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan, as per the IWT and the usurpation of the rights of the lower riparian, would be considered an “act of war”.

“It is equal to an attack on the people of Pakistan and its economy. Other diplomatic measures by India are indiscriminate and unnecessary. India’s actions and inflammatory rhetoric over the last few days are highly irresponsible. Being a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan believes in restraint and remains committed to regional peace and stability.

“However, in case of any act of aggression, Pakistan remains determined to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, in exercise of its inherent right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN charter.”

FM Dar said he wanted to raise some questions about the Pahalgam incident that needed to be considered.

“One, is it not time for the international community to hold India accountable for its transnational assassinations in different countries, including Pakistan? Two, is it not important to distinguish between the international community’s sympathies with the victims of the incident and the unwitting endorsement of Indian belligerence?

Three, is it not that Indian propaganda is aimed at fabricating a case for military adventure? Four, don’t you think that India’s blatant disregard for international law and whimsical approach towards its obligations would lead to a highly unstable and unpredictable regional order?

“Five, isn’t it high time for the international community to step in and condemn India and prevent it from targeting people on the basis of Islamophobia and religious hatred?

Six, can we deny that the dangerous Indian brinkmanship and efforts aimed at escalation can potentially lead to disastrous consequences in a nuclearised region and beyond?“

The foreign minister said Pakistan was cognisant of the developing situation. “We are very alert, the armed forces are alert, and the NSC resolve is very much there. We are vigilant, our armed forces are vigilant and the nation will thwart any misadventure, responding in a befitting and decisive manner at the time and place of our choosing,” he added.

Dar pointed out that it took no time for Pakistan to issue the statement expressing its condolences. “I was with the prime minister in Ankara on an official 36-hour visit. After we landed, the news came, and the moment the meetings ended in the evening, for which we had gone, I was in touch with the FO and the foreign secretary, and the team and I finalised in consultation with the stakeholders, Pakistan’s statement on this incident,” the foreign minister said.

“So don’t tell me that Pakistan has not condemned. There are different forums of condemnation. Pakistan has condemned at the international forum where it is responsible, one of the 15 members of the UNSC. Pakistan’s highest security forum, which is the NSC, has condemned it.

“We have condemned terrorism in all its manifestations and forms. The prime minister has given a very clear condemnation statement when he offered an independent inquiry … by independent actors.

“So this is rhetoric which the other side has been playing that we did not condemn, that is all wrong.”

Following Dar’s remarks, FO spokesperson Khan highlighted irregularities in the registration of the first information report for the incident and criticised the speed with which Indian accounts began blaming Pakistan without offering any evidence.

“The timing raises serious questions about how information was processed so quickly,” he said.

Meanwhile, DG ISPR Lt Gen Chaudhry noted that the attack site was located far from the nearest town of Bagh in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising that Pakistan was presenting facts rather than engaging in baseless allegations.

“If the allegation is that the Pakistan-based so-called terrorists did this incident, then you need to be cognizant of where it lies, how deep within [occupied Kashmir]. If you see the terrain, you will see it is quite hilly, it is not the sort of terrain that is friendly and not the sort of terrain where all-weather fair roads exist. It’s mostly [four-wheelers] that travel,” he said.

Showing visuals of the area’s geography, he said the distance from the incident site to the nearest police station was 30 minutes and questioned how an FIR could be registered in 10 minutes.

The military spokesperson poked holes in the Indian narrative, saying that the other side mentioned reports of indiscriminate firing, while also putting forward a stance on the act of terrorism carried out based on religion.